Un mardi, soirée chez Madeleine Lemaire 1910

Henri Gervex captured this Tuesday evening at Madeleine Lemaire’s with oil on canvas. The artist is playing around with soft and warm tones, creating a gentle composition, like a sweet memory. You can almost feel the process. I love the way the paint is applied, loose and airy, creating depth by building up layers of almost transparent pigment. See how the dress of the woman standing up melts into the background, or the gentle brushstrokes creating the vase of flowers behind the piano. These are moments where color and form become one, and the painting takes on a life of its own. Gervex reminds me of Manet, particularly in his ability to capture fleeting moments with simple brushstrokes. Like with Manet, the true subject is how we see, rather than what we see. It embraces ambiguity and invites us to bring our own interpretations to the scene.